My battle with foxes began two years ago in the north London neighbourhood of Tottenham. While the area is home to otters, herons, and woodpeckers, it also hosts five foxes living behind my house. The first sign of trouble was a fox entering through the cat flap during a weekend away. It chewed the sofa, defecated on it, knocked over bikes, slept in the bed after burying a shoe under a pillow, and gnawed through power cables of the washing machine and fridge. Later, it also chewed holes in the waste water pipe, causing flooding in the conservatory.
This year, the foxes stayed and caused more damage. They dug up vegetables and geraniums in window boxes, and made loud squealing noises at night. I found seven mismatched shoes on the lawn, and caught my terrier playing with an adolescent fox. Attempts to deter them included spreading coffee grounds, which did not work. Other suggestions like tiger or lion excrement are impractical, and male urine was ineffective and humiliating. Blocking holes in fences was futile as new ones appeared.
Foxes are not classified as vermin, so local authorities have no legal obligation to act. Private pest controllers who offer trapping and removal are ineffective because removing one fox simply allows another to take over the territory. Urban foxes are a relatively new phenomenon, having moved into cities from the 1940s onwards. Populations are now generally higher in urban areas than rural ones, though numbers have not increased in recent years due to diseases like sarcoptic mange.
